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• Each page allows for Search Engine Friendly (human readable) URL’s. You should be able to manipulate these.
• Each page has a unique title tag. Again you need to be able to manipulate these on a per page basis. Keywords in title tags are VERY useful.
• Each page allows for a unique meta description tag. For the most part Google uses the meta description tag for the text snippet it displays in the search engine results page or SERP.
• Each page allows for unique meta keywords. Although considered redundant it’s better to be safe than sorry with meta keywords
• The content management system (CMS) should allow for the easy addition of site wide code to aid the use of website analytics software a VITAL tool in the SEO process
• The CMS should automatically update its site map and create an XML feed to ensure Google is informed immediately of any site additions. Doing this manually is NOT recommended.
• The CMS should as far as possible use clean CSS based design to reduce the ratio of content to HTML on each page. This makes it easier for the search engine robots to establish the subject matter within a page
• The CMS should promote and assist the use of correct on-page HTML tagging, such as H1 for the most important headings. Again this helps the search engine robots correctly index a page
• The CMS should ensure canonical issues are considered and dealt with. In simple terms each page should as far as possible have only ONE version.

All of the above, and more, play their part in the way a website performs in the search engines. Ensuring your system ticks these boxes is vital. Getting this bit wrong will prove expensive.

So many CMS systems make life difficult for their users. The last thing you want to do is spend money on a site only to discover the search engines can’t make any sense of it.

A Content Management System is a computer application that permits the creation, editing, publishing and manipulation of content on a website.  These systems are usually used for the storing and retrieval of technical and user’s manuals, news articles, brochures, guides, among others.  The content itself may be constructed of any file type: images, audio/video files, spreadsheet and word processor documents, or any form of Web content.

The primary types of Content Management Systems include:  Enterprise, Web and Component systems. 

1. An enterprise CMS focuses on content and documents oriented towards the organizational processes of a business enterprise, and have a primary function in managing the organization’s unstructured information content.
2. A Web CMS focuses on content and documents specifically designed for Web publication by non-technical content creators.
3. A component CMS focuses on content within documents, often managing structured content, such as XML, to locate, link and render content at any level of organization.  This content is then often sent over to Enterprise and Web Content Management Systems. 

The five primary aspects of Content Management Systems include the following:

1. Versioning. The ability to keep, and roll back as required, previous versions of content, even after content is updated.
2. Granular User Management. This is the ability to assign and differentiate users based upon permission levels.
3. Content Organization and Relation. This is the ability to position content in both larger organizational structures as well as in relation to other content.
4. File and Image Management.  This is the ability of the system to store files in relation to the content that uses them.
5. Multi-State Content. This refers to the system’s ability to store content in a variety of states, from ‘in-progress’ to ‘archived’ to ‘active’ or ‘inactive’.

Along with these core functional requirements of a basic CMS, such systems often include a collection of other features and enhancements including extensibility and integration, scheduled publishing and expiration, task management and collaboration, among others.  The capability of such systems to pick and choose among such a wide array of functions provides evidence that no strict definition yet exists.  The CMS, as a technology structure, continues to advance as users and developers define and refine their needs and definitions.

Multilingual content management systems are meant to make the entire process of managing multilingual content easier, faster and more effective. Basically such a system gives the content developer the ability to deploy what is known as the master set of content.

What this means is that you do not need to possess any HTML knowledge whatsoever. On the contrary, content can be directly entered into the CMS without requiring the assistance of the webmaster. In the case of localization a multilingual CMS will not require you to have any HTML knowledge thereby enabling you to work directly with the system.

The key function of multilingual CMS is to allow the content developer and translator to handle the entire ordeal himself without having to learn the technical language. On an average such systems can reduce your time to market by up to 50%.

Multilingual content management systems have manifold benefits. Amongst the primary benefits of such a system is the fact that it eliminates operator error. Since the data in various languages and applications will not be changing hands the risk of errors is minimized thereby guaranteeing error free work.

The use of such systems also helps to bring down the cost of translation. Furthermore the translator needs to have minimal technical knowledge. This will cut down on outsourced translation expenses as you incorporate in house language skills.

Another major benefit of employing multilingual content management systems comes in the form of improved coordination between web and other marketing media. Coordinating multiple media is perhaps the most challenging aspect of working with multiple languages. Issues like inconsistency can creed up in coordination across media. Multilingual content management systems can be used to overcome this difficulty and make the entire process far more effective.

Another way in which Multilingual systems can help to facilitate your operations is by giving you the opportunity to recycle and reuse translated content. In the past organizations have had to pay for getting the same content translated again. With multilingual CMS however you can coordinate the same content through different media thereby removing the need to get the same content translated again.

When it comes to website localization you need to have a customized presentation that is tailored to the particular market in question. The Thai look may not work well for the German version of the website and vice versa. This customization need could arise with regards to the colors, presentation and use of graphics. In some cases you may even be required to change the entire look and feel of the website. Without employing a multilingual content management system this could be a rather daunting, costly and time consuming task.

Lastly you will find the best of multilingual CMS to be offering you cross platform compatibility. This means you will be able to work on Linux, Max, and Windows along with browsers like Opera, Explorer, and Safari etc. The broader the range of cross platform compatibility the better it will be for your website.